In economic news, the U.S. trade deficit narrowed in June to $41.5 billion, the best in five months, the Commerce Department said. That was better than May's slightly downwardly revised $44.7 billion gap, and much better than expectations for a widening to $45 billion. Exports remained essentially flat, while imports of cell phones, autos and petroleum products declined.

Several pieces of news drove early stock action Wednesday and hinted at an inflection point in recent trends among large-scale mergers and acquisitions.

Sprint (NYSE:S) fell 14% in premarket trade after abandoning its effort to acquire T-Mobile U.S. (NYSE:TMUS) due to ongoing regulatory resistance, Reuters and the Wall Street Journal reported this morning. That leaves French telecom giant Iliad, as the sole bidder on the No. 4 U.S. wireless carrier.

Sprint had offered a deal estimated at around $32 billion. Iliad's bid, estimated nearer to $15 billion, aims to acquire 57% of the company. Reuters reports that Cox Communications, Charter Communications (NASDAQ:CHTR) and Dish Network (NASDAQ:DISH) could also potentially become involved in the deal. T-Mobile shares were down 8% ahead of the open.

21st Century Fox (NASDAQ:FOXA) spiked 8% after ending its bid for Time Warner (NYSE:TWX). Fox had pitched an $80 billion takeover offer, which Time Warner had declined. Fox had pressed the matter, and was prepared to raise its bid as high as $89 billion, according to news sources. But continued resistance, and a drop in Fox shares soured the deal. Time Warner stock fell 10% before the bell, also hurt after reporting mixed second-quarter results. Fox is scheduled to report after today's close.

Walgreen (NYSE:WAG) dived 11% after announcing it would not use its acquisition of Swiss-based Alliance Boots to "invert" its corporate structure overseas and avoid U.S. taxes. Walgreen said it would acquire the remaining 55% of the pharmacy chain for $5.3 billion in cash plus 144.2 million shares. It put its combined revenue target for 2016 between $126 billion and $130 billion. Management said it aims to reduce annual costs by $1 billion before 2017, and launched a $3 billion share buyback initiative.

Overseas, markets in China slipped and Tokyo's Nikkei 225 dropped 1.1%. Europe's major indexes were down more than 1% at midday, hurt by a surprise drop in German industrial orders and uncertainty massing on the Russia/Ukraine border.

The dollar firmed to a 9-month high vs. the euro and was steady against the yen. Gold and oil rose, but remained not far from recent lows. Natural gas inched up to its strongest level in two weeks.

See Also

Outerwall (NASDAQ:OUTR) stock dropped through the floor on Friday, a day after the Redbox parent reported declining DVD rentals from its kiosks. The Bellevue, Wash.-based company beat Wall Street estimates on earnings but missed on revenue. Outerwall earned $2.19 a share excluding items on sales of ...

Stabilization in China stocks brought buyers in from the sidelines Tuesday as U.S. major averages rallied impressively in higher volume. Sentiment was positive before the open after a 5% intraday loss for the Shanghai composite turned into just a 1.7% loss by the close. But U.S. stocks hiccuped on ...

07/28/2015 07:14 PM ET

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